By Dominic Konareski
Voice Writer
When talking about the city’s beaches, Mayor Dorinda Borer is brief and to the point.
“It’s a jewel, it’s our greatest asset,” she says matter-of-factly.
In office now for two-and-half years, Mayor Borer has reshaped the West Haven shoreline and the notion around it during the span. In the in the middle of her second term, Mayor Borer eyes the continued improvements around the sandy West Haven beaches.
One of the most significant projects completed during Borer’s first year as mayor was the elevation of Beach Street.
The project, which lasted roughly a year, raised the roadway approximately 11-feet above sea level to provide better protection against flooding, along with the prevention of possible damage to the coast. The elevation change led to an opportunity of additional redevelopment along Beach Street, which was an area prone historically to waist-high flooding and had several deteriorating properties.
“The reason why I’m proud of that (raising Beach Street) is because I was turned down when I was a state representative by the mayor at the time, and the state delegation didn’t really want to pursue it,” said Borer, who remained persistent in her efforts to get the job done.
She reached out to the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) and held a conversation with Gov. Ned Lamont in what was described as a “springboard” in helping the idea catapult into reality and execution, with the city receiving funds for the project.
With Beach Street rising 11-feet, the roofs of condos and the now popular Riva were constructed and raised as a direct effect of the Beach Street being raised announcement.
“It was a trickle-up effect,” said the mayor.
The dominos fell in line after that. The Debonair was demolished and the old bait shop that was closed for well over a decade finally sold.
Borer then met with The Grind, an Orange-based baseball training operation, bringing a critical investment to youth sports that would see the baseball company invest in, fix and maintain in several of the Morse Park fields.
“They made our fields beautiful,” said Borer in what was one of the biggest non-high school related sporting facility upgrades in the city’s history.
Along with the fields getting a makeover, residents would see the pump stations on East Avenue and Dawson Avenue get fully redone.
“They had become unsafe and were in a flood zone,” Borer said.
The stations are getting rebuilt with a higher base and is re-fitting the East Avenue facilitywith showers for beach goers, in what is roughly a $22 million dollar project.
“It’s going to look a lot better,” she said.
Borer noted that due to changing tides and a factor of climate change the jetties are no longer working as intended. She has addressed public concern regarding sand washed out into the Sound due to severe weather with recent reconstructions along Beach Street and at Prospect Beach.
“We know putting sand there is not a solution, it’s just a band-aid, but we have to continue putting sand there,” she said.
She said the constant addition of sand is currently protecting the roadway until a permanent fix can be implemented
Borer said the administration is waiting on a design for a permanent solution. Such a project is expected to range from $3-10 million. Meanwhile, the efforts have created a ripple effect.
Borer said investors of The Kelsey currently under construction at the former Savin Rock Conference Center, came after seeing Riva open at the site for the former Chick’s Restaurant. A long-term lease was created, allowing the city to keep the property in their possession. The Kelsey investors invested over $3 million into the building, with the city putting in $1 million from state funding.
In addition to The Kelsey, Mayor Borer was able to acquire state funding to rehab the beach boardwalk, lamp posts, fencing and dance areas.
Asked if she saw the possibility of a renaissance of Beach Street when she first ran for office, Borer was said it was a matter of getting rid of the flooding problem.
She believed once Beach Street was raised, more investors would be attracted to the shoreline, and she is very happy with the selling of the bait shop (at the NE corner of Beach and East Avenue) that is currently under reconstruction into a coffee shop.
“I’m grateful,” said the mayor about the coffee shop and that it has gotten nearly non-stop public praise and excitement.
One of the successful and “catchy” additions to the West Haven beaches is the “Miles of shore and so much more” slogan all around the city’s shoreline as well as on billboards along I-95.. Mayor Borer said the slogan was an idea originating in the Economic Development Commission.
West Haven is a city whose identity has long been tied to the Long Island Sound. The city’s three-mile tract of beaches comprises a quarter of Connecticut’s public beaches.
“When you think of West Haven you think of the shoreline,” said Borer who has both marketed and helped rejuvenate the beaches excellently in the 30 months she’s been in office.
Improvement for surrounding residents and business owners has been seen, she believes, while bringing in new investors She hopes the combination gives a bright future to the city’s shoreline that will resonate into other parts of West Haven.